Projects in genres: Science

Synopsis

"I put my body in the way and I don't mind being arrested", Marina Pepper is a classified domestic extremist, renowned for making tea for police officers and bailiffs while they are in the midst of evicting her. Marina is one of a growing number of modern-day outlaws – people who care about what is happening to our planet and are prepared to take action to stop it. Previously a secretive world, filmmaker Emily James was granted unprecedented access to follow a community of UK environmental activists. It’s an action packed time, with activists scaling the chimney of Didcot Power Station, locking themselves to the Royal Bank of Scotland and tangling with gung ho police at the Copenhagen Summit. Articulate, funny and engaging, the ensemble cast care passionately about the environment on a global level, but work locally, with courage, determination and manners to take a stand.

Synopsis

The magnificent lagoon of Mayotte, an island in the Indian Ocean, is at the very heart of local life. The Mahorans are aware of this and try to protect it. From the wooded mountain top to the mangrove and into the sea, we came across dedicated men, women and children, turtles and sea cucumbers, right down to the vibrant coral reefs shimmering below in the turquoise water. The lagoon of Mayotte is a cradle of hope : to build a future that will be environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.

Synopsis

20 Hz observes a geo-magnetic storm occurring in the Earth's upper atmosphere. Working with data collected from the CARISMA radio array and interpreted as audio, we hear tweeting and rumbles caused by incoming solar wind, captured at the frequency of 20 Hertz. (Available in 3D version )

Synopsis

A team is at work dissecting what appears to be an ordinary bush. The examination is carried out with such conviction and reverence, towards something which is seemingly so mundane, that the whole process appears quite absurd.   Filmed during a Gulbenkian Galapagos Artists Residency.

Synopsis

Robinson in Ruins is an account of a journey by a wandering, erratic scholar, through landscapes in the south of England. Its fictional narration begins: 'When a man called Robinson was released from Edgcott open prison, he made his way to the nearest city, and looked for somewhere to haunt'. Robinson ‘believed he could communicate with a network of non-human intelligences determined to preserve the possibility of life’s survival on the planet’ and ‘was equipped with an ancient ciné camera, with which he made images of his everyday surroundings’. He surveyed the centre of the island on which he was shipwrecked: 'The location,' he wrote, 'of a Great Malady, that I shall dispel, in the manner of Turner, by making picturesque views, on journeys to sites of scientific and historic interest.' The film consists of these views. The cinematography began in January 2008 and continued until November, just after the peak of that year’s global banking crisis. The film’s unplanned journey ‘rediscovers’ several locations associated with capitalism’s development since the 16th century and resistance to it. Vanessa Redgrave’s narration includes references to the deepening economic crisis, climate change and mass-extinction, but manages to reach an optimistic conclusion.

Synopsis

In this short film, specially commissioned as part of the Royal Society’s 350th anniversary celebrations in 2010, Professor Uta Frith FRS and her young companion, Amalie Heath-Born, find out just what goes on inside our brains when we view the treasures on display at London’s world-famous Victoria and Albert Museum.

Synopsis

'I don't know if you've ever heard a goat eating carrots? It's almost too much, it's so lovely'. The fascinating visually complex internal world of audio-visual synaesthesia is discussed, argued over, scientifically dissected and celebrated in this beautifully sensitive animated documentary.

Synopsis

LONDON, 2024. Terror strikes at Heathrow Flight Control Tower. An unknown fault with the landing software has stranded nine planes over London. Onboard computers glitch as frantic Pilots radio in for emergency landing clearance. Fuel levels run low. Planes are in danger of crashing into each other. A race against time, our hero John Steel battles to prevent the impending catastrophe. The virus devours the Flight Control's network. Proving too powerful for John, Heathrow suffers a horrific air-traffic tragedy. But our hero is not that easily conquered. With the help of his top virus tech, Jack Beale, John sets out to destroy the virus. Imagine their surprise when they discover their nemesis AVATAR is a beautiful woman with a cruel-set sneer. In a dazzling array of skilled fighting, AVATAR gets straight to work making mincemeat of John and his team. Through a series of action packed encounters, John battles a seemingly unconquerable adversary. The story climaxes on the rooftop of Britain's tallest building, the Central Communications Tower. Running out of options, John finally discovers the solution to his problem.

Synopsis

What happens when western anthropologists descend on the Amazon and make one of the last 'unacculturated tribes' on the planet, the Yanomami, the most exhaustively filmed and studied tribe on the planet? The film is an acute study of the clashing of these two tribes, the wars amongst them and uncovers the secrets that were buried.

Synopsis

The simple movements of everyday reality on the New York subway are transformed into a choreography of fractured and fleeting impressions.

Synopsis

Investigating the aggressive cancer, Burkitt's Lymphoma, through an intimate portrayal of a UK mother who lost her son to the disease. The film follows her to Malawi to learn more about the disease, observe children being treated and discover what can be done to speed up their diagnosis.

Synopsis

This short film reflects on the swiftly shifting nature of the urban landscape, set in a working class area of South London that is currently being redeveloped and gentrified. This notebook film has no narration and depicts the architecture poetically in flux.